October 03, 2017
Does Turkey Really Want to Punish Iraqi Kurdistan?
In Irbil, all eyes are on Washington after the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum triggered severe reactions from Ankara, Tehran, and Baghdad. The US Department of State declared that the United States does not...
Learn more »October 02, 2017
Iraq’s Kurds Vote to Secede, but Problems Loom
The passage of the September 25, 2017 referendum of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan has garnered much opposition inside Iraq, around the Arab region, in Turkey and Iran, and...
Learn more »September 29, 2017
Mahmoud Abbas: A Lone Voice in the UN Wilderness
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is no longer what it used to be, even for the president of the State of Palestine. The days of Yasser Arafat’s “olive branch” speech on November 13,...
Learn more »September 29, 2017
The Strategic Implications of Reopening the Baghdad-Amman Highway
On August 30, the Turaibil border crossing that links Iraq with Jordan was reopened after two years of closure. Striving to recover from the devastation of the so-called Islamic State (IS), both the Iraqi and...
Learn more »September 22, 2017
The Follies and Pitfalls of the Kurdish Referendum
The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masood Barzani, is pressing ahead with a plan to hold a referendum on September 25 on Kurdish independence from Iraq, which is likely to expose Iraq and...
Learn more »September 20, 2017
Trump’s United Nations Speech: More of the Same
On September 19, President Donald Trump took to the floor of the 72nd annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York and gave his first speech before the body. There were numerous questions leading...
Learn more »September 20, 2017
Future Implications of the Islamic State’s Demise in Syria
While the battle against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria approaches its end, complications abound at the political level due to the mostly antagonistic involvement of numerous groups on the Syrian battlefield. Forces of...
Learn more »September 18, 2017
The US and the GCC: A Steep Learning Curve for President Trump
The Donald Trump Administration faces many challenges today in its relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The administration’s lack of experience in Gulf issues and readiness to deal with Gulf complexities and Middle Eastern...
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